Greatest Royal Rumble Predictions and Thoughts

   Just nineteen days after WrestleMania, the male WWE roster will be arriving to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for the next WWE Network Special called the Greatest Royal Rumble.  You'll notice I used the word male.  As you may or may not know, the Saudi Arabian people will not be welcoming any women from the WWE to compete at this event.  In their culture, women are not treated the way they are in other countries.  While WWE may not agree with this, they understand and will comply with the cultural standards.  I don't like it either but business is business.  Maybe someday things will change.  After all, there was a women's match in the recent past in Dubai so that's a start.  I also don't agree with their stance on Jewish performers, which bothers me a little as I'm Jewish myself.  Beyond these cultural divides, the Rumble match itself will contain 50 men and there are nine other incredible matches to look forward to.  Chris Jericho, Rey Misterio, and the Great Khali, among others, will be returning for this event.  Both Kurt Angle and Shane McMahon will participate as well.  Let's get to the action!

Cruiserweight Title - Cedric Alexander vs. Kalisto

   Cedric defeated Mustafa Ali in the finals of the Cruiserweight Championship tournament at WrestleMania in an incredible match.  205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick wanted to make sure someone got the chance to win the gold at the Greatest Royal Rumble.  He set up a gauntlet match between five competitors; Kalisto, Mustafa Ali, Drew Gulak, TJP, and Tony Neese.  Kalisto did the honors and now goes one on one with Cedric.  The match itself should be great, with lots of high flying to get the people excited.  It's possible that it may be on the Pre-Show. With how recent Cedric's Title win was, I gotta go with him for the win tomorrow.

Raw Tag Team Titles - The Bar vs. Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt

   At WrestleMania a few weeks back, The Bar lost the Raw Tag Team Championships to Braun Strowman and believe it or not, a ten-year-old named Nicholas.  Due to a conflicting schedule, i.e. school, the young man and Braun gave up the Titles.  Raw General Manager Kurt Angle was not about to simply hand Sheamus and Cesaro the Titles again so he set up a mini tournament to find opponents.  Those men are Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt.  The two were bitter rivals just a month ago but something changed after their Final Deletion match.  At WrestleMania, Bray helped Hardy win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and now has become a Woken Warrior himself.  Together, they have been called the Deleter of Worlds.  I love the pairing of these two and the Bar always bring their A-game.  I'm going with Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt to bring home the gold.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles - Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Usos

 Since Fastlane in March, the Bludgeon Brothers, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, have been terrorizing the Usos.  At WrestleMania, the big men dethroned the Usos for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships, in a match that also contained The New Day.  The Usos are exercising their rematch clause.  Jimmy's wife Naomi has recently made her presence known in this feud, trying to stop the Bludgeon Brothers from causing more damage towards her husband and brother-in-law.  Just two days ago on Smackdown, she distracted Rowan, causing Jimmy to get a singles win.  Since Naomi will not be along for the ride in Saudi Arabia and since the Titles just changed hands, my prediction is the Bludgeon Brothers.

Casket Match - The Undertaker vs. Rusev

   The Undertaker defeated John Cena at WrestleMania in just under three minutes and will now be taking on Rusev in a Casket Match. Rusev and his wife Lana made some negative comments, leading Taker's opponent to be changed briefly to Chris Jericho.  The match was switched back to its original form.  Rusev is ridiculously popular right now and Rusev Day is a holiday celebrated by all.  I don't know why they're fighting it and keeping him heel.  No matter the opponent, however, it seems pretty likely that the Undertaker will prevail.  I'm going with the Dead Man in this one.

US Title - Jeff Hardy vs. Jinder Mahal

   Just over a week after Jinder Mahal won the US Title at WrestleMania, he was drafted to Raw in the 2018 Shakeup.  Due to the roster change, he was forced to put his newly won Championship on the line against the returning Jeff Hardy, who defeated the Modern Day Maharajah for the Title.  The next night, Hardy was drafted to Smackdown, along with the US Championship.  I'm going with Jeff Hardy to retain, keeping the US Title on Smackdown. However, should The Miz or Samoa Joe win the Intercontinental Title, I can see Jinder regaining the US Title.  That leads into the next match.

Intercontinental Title Fatal Fourway Match - Seth Rollins vs. The Miz vs. Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe

   Seth Rollins defeated The Miz and Balor to win the Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania. This is a rematch of sorts, with the addition of Samoa Joe.  This is a match I'm really looking forward to and it should be a good one.  Their clash at WrestleMania was great and adding Samoa Joe certainly can't hurt it.  My prediction is that Seth Rollins will retain.  It depends on the placement of this match, as well as the US Title match, though.  It's more than possible that the Championships could switch shows again.

John Cena vs. Triple H

   It's been a long time since these two men had a match against each other.  Throughout 2006-2010, they've shared a ring numerous times, trading wins.  John Cena is just coming off a quick loss to the Undertaker at WrestleMania. Similarly, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were also on the losing side that night against Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey.  This one is a tough call, as either could potentially pull out the victory.  Although it could go either way, I'm picking Big Match John for the win.  It should be a nice nostalgic moment.

WWE Title - AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

   At WrestleMania, Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura came up short in his WWE Championship match against The Phenomenal One. After the loss, Nakamura did the unthinkable by turning heel with a low blow on Styles.  Since then, their rivalry has heated up. This is the rematch and it should be a good one. I had my doubts at first about a heel Nakamura but he's been on fire.  As for the winner, I've gotta go with Shinsuke defeating AJ to finally become the WWE Champion, along with the very first Japanese born WWE Champion.  It's possible that this match might be better than their WrestleMania encounter.

Universal Title - Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns

   In a match that had an even more shocking ending, Lesnar retained the Universal Title at WrestleMania against Reigns.  I heard a rumor that the feeling is that Reigns is likely to get cheered more in a foreign country for a Title win, which is why he did not defeat Lesnar at WrestleMania.  I can understand that and it makes sense.  However, I am still surprised Reigns did not win.  When AJ Styles won the WWE Title in the UK back in November, it was the first time that a World Championship in the WWE changed hands outside of the United States.  However, that doesn't mean it can't happen again. Though it's more than possible Lesnar could win, I'm still choosing Roman Reigns for the win here.

50-Man Royal Rumble Match

   I really hope that there wasn't something lost in translation here.  The reason I say that is I've been hearing things to the effect of this match being a regular battle royal and not Royal Rumble rules.  I certainly hope this will be a regular Royal Rumble match, otherwise, it's extremely misleading and disappointing.  With that being said, Mark Henry, fresh off his Hall of Fame induction, is coming out of retirement strictly for this match.  This will be Daniel Bryan's third match back after his three year hiatus.  The WWE recently did tryouts in Saudi Arabia so at least one of their local talents will be involved in the match. Although it could be almost anybody's game here, I've gotta go with Braun Strowman.  There's nothing on the line here except a trophy and bragging rights but despite that, I think the Monster Among Men is going to take the whole thing.

   I can understand why people will not be watching this.  I don't agree with the way their culture works but that's just the reality.  For the WWE, it's a business opportunity.  To appease fans of the women, it might be a good idea to do some kind of cross-brand all women Network special.  I had a funny thought but this might kill any future business with the nation of Saudi Arabia.  I have this scenario where an unknown masked wrestler wins the Rumble and the identity remains unknown to close the show.  That person is revealed on Raw a few nights later as one of the female wrestlers in the company.  While that would be amusing and a good way to sneak a woman onto the show, it would piss off the entire country and might not be good business.  I don't like the way this culture treats its women and I certainly am not a fan of their take on Jewish people.  Although I have my reservations, I'm still going to watch. 




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